Ep 321: Daniel Chua, Philip McNally (November 21, 2011)

Rounds: Here.

Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.


Tonight we find out that Daniel is hoping to major in mathematics and Japanese.  When asked why that combination, he responds that mathematics is close to his heart -- he really does like it a lot.  That certainly meets with my approval!  As for Japanese, Daniel talks about the difference in cultural perspective: Japan is a culture that really embraces maths, or as he puts it: Mathematicians are cool in Japan!  He makes mention of TV shows about physicists solving crimes using mathematics, which he says is unique; that's not the most clear-cut claim given that NUMB3RS has a very similar synopsis, but I can certainly believe that the shows are vastly different.

Challenging Daniel is Philip McNally, a logistics manager who hopes to represent Australia in lawn bowls.  He's been playing for three years now, and loves the team aspect in particular.  He tried to qualify for the Australian Open last year and only just missed out.  Richard brings up the perception that bowls is only for retirees, remarking that it's not actually the case.  Philip agrees, saying that there are many young players nowadays, and it's a good game for them because they are fearless.  Philip's son is very good at it, but won't take it up because he says it is social suicide -- Philip hopes to talk him around eventually.


As I mentioned in the post about becoming a contestant, I met both Daniel and Philip that day.  I didn't get that much of a chance to chat with Daniel once the filming started, but he did a great job of putting us new contestants at our ease, displaying a wonderful attitude.  I was able to have more of a chat with Philip, which I also enjoyed.  Overall, what characterises the show for me is how pleasant everyone was; everyone hoped to do well, but I didn't perceive any aggressive competitive streaks.


Daniel manages to outdo Philip in early letters rounds, and an invalid word can't hold him back.  With a perfect effort on the numbers Daniel is comfortably uncatchable by the time the conundrum rolls around; neither can solve it, and the final score is 56 to 30.

I have a suspicion that I might have actually done better when I was in the audience.  There was definitely an eight that I missed this time that I found then, and a more obvious seven than the disputable one that I had for one round.  Sadly, I didn't keep my jottings; I wish that I had, now.  In any case, my recollection is that I won from the audience, and I did so again this time.

As usual, details after the jump.